Still Charmed And Kicking
by fullmoonrisin
Summary: AU Story. Prue survives the encounter with Shax, and the sisters discover the sister they never knew in the form of his latest victim. Only...she's not exactly alive. Summary only covers the early chapters.
1. Chapter 1

So, here goes my first venture into the world of Charmed fan fiction! First off, this story will be an AU take on season 4 onwards and will begin in the final minutes of AHBL. Anyway, I hope you all enjoy the story. I own absolutely nothing; please R & R!

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Chapter 1: Grave Danger

From it's front view along Prescott street, the large Victorian manor was just like any of the other marvelously designed turn of the century houses within the quiet suburban neighborhood of San Francisco. A close enough view through the parlor windows, however, would reveal to any voyeuristic individual that the charming façade of the manor was exactly that—a disguise that masked the supernatural heritage of its inhabitants as protectors of the innocent. Enter the middle aged doctor currently cowering in front of a window.

In spite of his title, there was nothing very extraordinary about Dr. Griffiths. He had no children to speak of, he'd been married and divorced four times, he was cynical, and his studies in the field of medicine had smothered what remained of his lapsed Catholic faith. He was a purely scientific thinker who, moments ago, thought he'd been set up for a candid camera tv show. Now he trembled as a beast who may as well have been Lucifer towered over him. Before the strange women had been thrown by this…this demon, Griffiths had felt utterly bewildered, terrified, and astounded that this thing could actually exist.

Going to the media with this story had been a fleeting thought across his mind before one of the witches was thrown through a wall and it became apparent that this towering demon was going to get who he came for…

"Wh-What are you?" It was in this moment that he truly began to realize just how little meaning his life really held as it flashed before his eyes.

"The end."

With that simple statement, it was all over for Dr. Griffiths as everything he knew went black and he was blasted away. Shax took only a moment to survey his handiwork and then he was gone in a violent whirlwind just as quickly as he had arrived. The doctor was left to the same fate as his would-be saviors; laying battered and broken over an equally disastrous looking window frame as his life faded from existence.

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"Cole! Leo!" Phoebe fled from the horde of demons that the source had set on her and was momentarily relieved when she rounded a corner to find that her demon had managed to escape his fate as well, with some aid from the whitelighter.

Phoebe and Leo ducked out of the way of the fight as Belthazor emerged from beneath his human skin and let out an enraged roar at the demons who had tried to kill Phoebe.

"Leo!" Phoebe yanked him behind a rock near Belthazor and out of the path of an oncoming energy ball. There was panic in her voice. "You have to get to the manor; they'll die if you stay any longer."

Belthazor punched, kicked, and blasted through the fight, but was still careful to pay attention to his witch and the whitelighter. As he deftly dodged a couple of fists, he could see the exchange going on between the pair out of the corner of his eye. Leo knew he had to leave, but when he offered his hand to orb Phoebe out with him, she refused.

"No. I won't go without Cole. Just go heal my sisters." The sick feeling in the pit of her stomach was growing and she was certain at this point that Shax had already attacked, but she found herself unwilling to leave Cole.

"Phoebe…"

Leo was interrupted by a familiar demonic voice, "Get out now, Phoebe!" He shouted to be heard over the din of combat, struggling against the scaly arm sliding around his neck and the energy ball that had narrowly missed his head.

"Get out!" He growled, this time emphasizing his words by throwing the nameless demon behind him into the cavern wall behind Phoebe so hard that she felt it shake before finally taking Leo's hand. Belthazor's monstrous crimson features were briefly split by a satisfied smirk as he watched the pair fade away in a swirl of bright blue orbs.

"Now," He turned to what remained of the attacking demons and allowed his smirk to take on an ominous twisted look as a large energy ball formed in either hand. "Where were we?"

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Back at the manor, Phoebe and Leo reappeared in the middle of the main hall. Leo didn't even wait to finish orbing before he dashed toward the fallen sisters. The remaining Charmed One only managed a couple steps after him before she was overcome with a heavy feeling unlike one she had ever experienced before; so powerful, in fact that she found herself forced back against the staircase. She had no idea what it was—if she had to compare it to something, she would describe it as some kind of dread, or a brokenness of some sort. What was certain was that it was definitely foreboding.

The feeling continued to consume her, but she could just make out Piper's confused and pained mutterings from mere feet in front of her as Leo's healing touch worked it's magic, and then, the heavy feeling made sense when the shrieks of her middle sister reached her ears.

"Leo!? Why isn't it working?" The frantic question was enough to jar Phoebe from the weight she felt and she sharply lifted her head from the palms of her hands to look in the direction of the smashed conservatory before making a wild dash toward her sisters. Leo, for his part offered no answer. They all knew why it wasn't working, it just couldn't be true. Not Prue! Not another loss in the family! The two remaining sisters collapsed into each other's arms with grief as their whitelighter ceased his futile efforts and gazed solemnly at his fallen charge.

As she lost herself in the anguished sobs she released into Piper's shoulder, the youngest sibling's insides churned with guilt. If she hadn't gotten so wrapped up with Cole in the underworld, then Leo wouldn't have felt compelled to stay with her and they would've gotten back in time to save both sisters; maybe even vanquish Shax and save their innocent. Neither sister had noticed at this point that Leo had been called away.

"It should've been me!" Piper latched onto Phoebe even tighter as another round of sobs wracked her thin frame. They both knew that she was talking about the botched vanquish attempt that led to their exposure.

"Honey…"Phoebe relinquished her hold on Piper, sensing a sudden need for some distance. "It's not your fault, alright? How could you have known?" Her voice began to break again, "If anything it's my fault. I let myself get too worried about Cole in the underworld, and Leo wouldn't leave me." Phoebe couldn't keep herself from staring at the surreal image of her lifeless sister on the floor; close enough to reach out and touch, but a realm away in spirit by now. It was just like her death at the hands of the dragon warlock, except there was no genie to wish her back this time.

After what seemed like an eternity of sitting, crying, hugging, and staring off into space, Piper finally gathered enough willpower to compose herself and stand up from the spot where she'd flown through the wall.

"I should…I should go call Morris." She stated morosely, in a dull voice that wasn't quite her own.

Suddenly as she turned to head toward the phone, a swirl of orbs appeared immediately in her face. "Wait, Piper." Leo grabbed his stunned wife by the shoulders. She honestly hadn't noticed until this moment that he was gone.

"We need to keep Prue's body."

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Alright, that's Ch.1, I know it's nothing new until the end. It's just meant to show a little of the details of what we didn't see on the show. Also, in case I didn't quite make it clear enough, the middle part of the chapter where Phoebe is being overcome by a negative feeling is meant to imply that she is somehow sensing the power of three being severed by Prue's passing. Anyway, more to come! Please R & R!


	2. Chapter 2

First off, thank you to anyone who read and/or reviewed this. I hope you enjoy the direction it's going in. Also, I still don't own jack. Anyway: read, enjoy, and review!

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Ch. 2: The Ghostly Plane

Prue Halliwell had been walking aimlessly for a while now, it seemed. The last thing she remembered was flying through a wall; the eldest Charmed One was completely clueless as to how Shax could've sent her do a different place that way. Something about this place was unsettling…so strange and yet so familiar to the witch. It was almost as if she'd been here before.

She had regained consciousness in downtown San Francisco, and everything looked just like normal. The only difference was that there was something distinctly otherworldly about it: The sky was clear, yet everything was cast in a gloomy shadow and a strange and ethereal fog wrapped itself around every structure. Prue recalled seeing The Fog when she was younger and wondered briefly if the Demon of Illusion wasn't playing some cruel game with her and any minute now she would start to see revenge-minded ghost sailors emerging from the odd haze. The most striking detail, however, was the distinct lack of any people. Sure, she saw the occasional pedestrian walking along here or there, but other than that, there was nobody. She was alone with just her thoughts and the incessant need she felt to get out of this place, which she chalked up to her belief that Shax had actually transported her somewhere else.

Then a thought crossed her mind. Piper was left alone with that demon! What if he did the same thing to her? She began looking around frantically before collecting her emotions and thoughts. "I've got to find her." Prue paused in confusion as the scenery around her began to change and what was downtown morphed into a simple bench swing suspended from thin air.

"You won't find her here, Prue."

Prue froze. She knew that voice; it had been too long since she last heard it.

"Andy." She turned around to face the former detective.

"What are you doing here?" She wondered, wrapping him in a tight hug, which he returned quite eagerly. She pulled back and looked at him closely. He looked exactly the same as the day he died…not that she really expected a dead man to age.

And it was that thought that stuck out in her mind.

"Wait a minute…" she stepped away from him in disbelief as pieces began to come together, "You're…you're dead. If you're here, that means…"

"Yes Prue, you're dead." Andy smiled at her sadly.

"Oh, O-okay…" Prue's legs went limp underneath her and she sank down onto the bench with the weight of that information. Several emotions went through her all at once in a jumbled mess as she processed Andy's news. Few things would make her happier than the prospect of an eternity with her mother, with Grams…with Andy, but the thought of leaving her sisters behind also saddened her greatly. From a wiccan perspective it deeply worried her too. If she was dead, the power of three was broken; Piper and Phoebe were more vulnerable.

"So, what now? I mean, am I…moving on?"

"No!"

The newly deceased Halliwell was taken aback at Andy's vehement tone. She had never before heard him protest anything so fiercely.

"That is exactly what you can't do. I'm here to make sure you don't cross over."

"So then, you know where we are?"

Andy shook his head, "I'm not sure what this place is called, but I know what it is. Think of it like a waiting room for spirits. This is the first place I came to after my death." He took a seat next to Prue as he explained. She realized when he sat down that this was how she recognized this place. It was the place she saw when Andy visited her while she was unconscious. Now that she thought of it, they were even sitting in the same spots on the bench.

"So, um, why can't I move on?" She wasn't sure what it was, but she still felt some force inside her compelling her to leave. She sensed that Andy realized what she was feeling even though she hadn't directly mentioned it.

Andy just smiled solemnly, leaning back into the bench. "You weren't meant to die, Prue. The only way to leave is to either go back to the world of the living or move on, and you can't go back once you do that." He fixed her with a knowing look, remembering his own experience in this plane. "That's why you have to ignore the pull."

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"What do mean 'keep her body'? She's dead, Leo!" Piper was utterly confused at this turn of events…in fact, both sisters were. The only reason Leo would tell them to do that would be if there was some hope, but neither sister was quite willing to believe it just yet at the risk of having that hope dashed.

"I mean I've been up there speaking with the Elders. They felt the power of three being severed and called me. Prue was not meant to die today, Piper."

Phoebe remembered the ordeal not long ago with Inspector Davidson and the Angel of Death and grew curious. Prue had told her about her name being on Death's List so she assumed that the angel had taken Prue.

"But if it wasn't her time, why would the Angel of Death take her?"

"The Angel of Death isn't concerned with timing. His only responsibility is escorting souls from the living world to the ghostly plane. That buys us some time though."

Piper arched a confused eyebrow, "Why would that…?"

This time it was Cole who offered an answer. He had only just shimmered into the main hall after successfully managing to evade the bounty hunters. He knew he didn't have much time to hang around though.

"The ghostly plane works differently for each soul. The souls who came from timely deaths tend to pass over quickly; others may linger a while. Some might even stay."

"He's right," Leo nodded as Phoebe and Cole went to hug each other. "But we still need to hurry. Eacch soul is driven to find their way out of that plane, and the only exit leads Up There." He pointed toward the ceiling, emphasizing his point. No sooner than he spoke, they all heard a familiar voice.

"Andy's already taking care of that." It was the voice of the Halliwell matriarch.

"Grams?" Phoebe and Piper asked rhetorically as their grandmother's spirit form in a spiral of golden white orbs.

"Hello dears." She smiled, though she seemed noticeably irked at the devastation Shax had wrought in the manner.

"Okay, so…Book of Shadows?" Phoebe asked, having processed the information and decided it was time to get down to the business of saving their sister.

"No. You won't find what you need in the Book. You'll need the Essence of Life. That's why I'm here. It only works if brewed by a spirit."

"To the kitchen, then!" Piper lead the way to the manor's kitchen with Grams, Leo, Phoebe, and Cole following behind. Knowing he'd just about exhausted his head start with the bounty hunters, Cole hung back as the group continued on and pulled Phoebe with him.

The demon led the witch over to the staircase and they stood in silence for a few moments, simply basking in the relief at the fact that the two of them had not been torn apart forever by the day's events. Phoebe could see the gears turning behind Cole's eyes—could sense that there was something he wanted to say, but didn't quite know how.

"You're leaving, aren't you?" It was more in the form of a statement than a question. Cole nodded, grabbing her hand and holding it to his chest, lamenting that he likely wouldn't be able to hold her for a while.

"Just for a little while until things in the underworld blow over a bit. You'll know where to find me."

The witch smiled, knowing that he was referencing the mausoleum, but still sensing that he had more to say. He almost seemed troubled by something. That was something Phoebe considered odd since he had never seemed this bothered over bounty hunters in the past.

"That isn't what you actually needed to say, was it?"

"Aren't you perceptive?" Cole smirked

"Blame it on the Premonitions." Both chuckled lightly at her joke.

"Well, it's no secret that Prue and I have never really gotten along. Even if she is coming back, I just hate that we would've been enemies at her death, for lack of a better description." The look he got from Phoebe as he talked was some mix of perplexed and sympathetic to his plight.

"I guess what I'm really trying to say here is that I want the approval of your family, and I'm tired of being hindered by my demon half."

Phoebe's eyes widened at the implication of Cole's sudden confession just as Cole began to sense that he was being tracked and the Zotar was getting closer.

"Yes, but not right now." He grabbed a still surprised Phoebe and kissed her, savoring the feel of his lips against hers and their arms around each other. Just as he sensed that the bounty hunter had pinpointed him he shimmered out, leaving Phoebe hanging with her arms wrapped around thin air where he was standing only a second ago.

"I hate it when he does that."

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Well, there's 2! I hope you enjoyed it. Please R&R!


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